'  JUL  27  1894 


PRESTON  SCHOOL  OF  INDUSTRY  AT  lONE. 


Circular  of  Information 


TRUSTEES: 

E.  M.  PRESTON,  Nevada  City,  President. 

ADAM  ANDREW,  Sacramento. 

FAYETTE  MACE,  lone. 


E.  CARIy  BANK,  Superintendent. 


SACRAMENTO: 

STATE  OFFICE,   :  :   A.   J.    JOHNSTON,    SUPT.    STAT:^   PRINTING. 
\  1894. 


c--^' 


•     .  •  '    • 


CIRCULAR  OF  INFORMATION. 


The  Preston  School  of  Industry  is  located  about  one  half 
mile  from  lone,  Amador  Count}^,  California,  on  a  beautiful 
eminence,  which  affords  a  fine  view  of  the  village  and  the  sur- 
rounding country. 

lone  is  a  town  of  about  eight  hundred  inhabitants,  and  is 
nearly  forty  miles  southeast  of  Sacramento,  and  about  one 
hundred  and  forty  miles,  by  rail,  northeast  from  San  Francisco. 
It  is  the  terminus  of  the  Amador  branch  of  the  Southern  Pacific 
Railroad,  which  connects  with  the  main  line  of  that  road  at 
Gait. 

The  institution  is  under  the  control  of  a  Board  consisting  of 
three  members,  who  are  appointed  by  the  Governor  for  terms 
of  four  years  each.  The  Board  appoints  the  Superintendent, 
Secretary,  and  Military  Instructor;  all  other  officers  are  ap- 
pointed by  the  Superintendent,  with  the  consent  and  approval 
of  the  Board. 

The  school  was  named  in  honor  of  Hon.  K.  M.  Preston,  who 
originated  and  introduced  the  bill  which  established  the  insti- 
tution, and  who  was  subsequently  appointed  President  of  the 
Board  of  Trustees. 

No  person  is  given  employment  whose  habits  of  life  are  not 
in  every  way  exemplary,  and  no  one  will  be  retained  in  the 
service  who  does  not  prove  to  be  fitted  for  the  work. 

The  institution  is  designed  to  be  a  place  of  reformation  for 
boys  whose  habits  of  life  and  environment  are  leading  them 
toward  a  criminal  career.  It  is  not  conducted  on  the  plan  of  a 
penal  institution,  but  rather,  as  its  name  indicates,  as  an  Indus- 
trial School ;  and  thus  the  reformation  is  not  accomplished  by 
any  retributive  or  punitive  means,  but  rather  by  proving  to  the 
boys  the  value  of.  good  conduct  and  a  good  reputation,  giving 
them  an  education,  and  teaching  them  some  means  of  earning 
a  living. 

The  school  consists  of  three  departments;  namely.  Academic, 
Military,  and  Industrial;  and  each  boy  is  a  pupil  in  each  de- 
partment. 332858 


—    4    — 

In  the  Academic  course  we  give  to  a  boy  of  ordinary  intelli- 
gence, whose  stay  with  us  is  not  limited,  an  education  equal  to 
the  grammar  grade  in  our  public  schools.  Each  boy  attends 
school  four  and  one  half  hours  each  day,  either  in  the  forenoon 
or  afternoon,  and  the  other  half  day  is  spent  at  work,  with  a 
certain  time  allotted  each  day  for  recreation. 

In  the  Military  Department  the  boys  are  taught  daily,  by 
competent  instructors,  in  such  branches  of  military  training  as 
are  ordiuarily  used  in  the  Government  service,  giving  especial 
emphasis  to  those  parts  which  secure  to  the  cadet  an  erect  and 
soldierly  bearing,  a  neat  appearance,  respect  for  superiors,  and 
prompt  and  cheerful  obedience  to  orders. 

In  the  Industrial  Department  each  boy  is  given  the  oppor- 
tunity to  gain  a  knowledge  of  some  vocation,  which  will  be  of 
practical  assistance  to  him  in  after  life,  and  help  him  to  earn 
living  wages  as  soon  as  he  leaves  the  school. 

Besides  doing  all  the  work  about  the  buildings  and  grounds, 
we  are  able  to  use  a  large  number  of  boys  in  carrying  on  our 
various  farming  operations.  We  have  about  300  acres  of  land, 
and  aim  to  produce  the  larger  part  of  fruit,  vegetables,  haj^ 
grain,  etc.,  which  we  use. 

As  soon  as  practicable,  we  expect  to  make  our  own  clothing 
and  shoes  with  boy  help,  and  also  establish  printing,  carpentry, 
blacksmithing,  and  plumbing  departments. 

Our  whole  aim  is  to  so  train  the  boy's  hand  and  brain  that 
he  may  become  a  useful  member  to  society,  as  well  as  a  credit 
to  himself  and  to  the  institution. 

To  any  one  contemplating  asking  advice  about  sending  any 
particular  boy  to  this  school,  we  would  respectfully  decline  to 
comply  with  such  request.  To  advise  sending  a  boy  would  be 
equivalent  to  saying  that  we  would  guarantee  refonnation;  to 
discourage  the  commitment  would  be  to  confess  a  lack  of  faith 
in  our  work. 

On  general  principles,  we  can  say  that  it  is  our  opinion  that 
there  is  no  school  yet  in  existence  which  is  eqnal^  in  every  ivay^ 
to  a  first-class  home;  but  where  such  a  home  is  wanting, 
whether  from  inability  to  provide  for,  or  to  properly  govern, 
and  where  the  child  is  growing  more  and  more  into  evil 
ways  and  evil  habits,  we  think  that  a  course  of  training  in  an 
institution  of  this  kind  will  more  than  likely  result  in  good. 


—   5   — 

How  Boys  are  Committed. 

The  following  sections  of  the  Organic  Act  relate  to  commit- 
ments to  the  school: 

Sec  15.  When  any  boy  under  the  age  of  eighteen  years  shall  be 
found  guilty,  by  a  magistrate  or  Court  of  competent  jurisdiction,  of  any 
offense  punishable  by  fine,  or  by  imprisonment,  or  by  both,  and  who,  in 
the  opinion  of  such  magistrate  or  Court  would  be  a  fit  subject  for  commit- 
ment to  the  said  school,  it  shall  be  lawful  for  the  magistrate  or  Court  to 
suspend  judgment  or  sentence  (except  when  the  penalty  is  life  imprison- 
ment or  death),  and  to  commit  such  boy  to  the  said  school  for  a  period 
not  exceeding  the  time  when  he  shall  attain  his  twenty-first  birthday, 
unless  sooner  discharged  by  law,  or  as  in  this  Act  provided ;  but  no  boy 
who  is  under  the  age  of  eight  years,  or  who  is  of  unsound  mind,  shall  be 
committed  to  the  said  school.  The  Board  shall  have  authority  to  make 
rules  reducing,  as  the  reward  for  good  conduct,  the  time  for  which  such 
person  or  persons  have  been  committed.  It  shall  be  the  duty  of  all  Courts 
and  magistrates  committing  any  boy  to  such  school  to  certify  to  the 
Superintendent  thereof  the  age  of  the  person  so  committed,  as  nearly  as 
can  be  ascertained  by  testimony  taken  under  oath  before  such  Court  ox 
magistrate,  or  in  such  manner  as  the  Court  or  magistrate  may  direct. 

Sec.  16.  Before  any  commitment,  made  by  a  Police  Court  or  by  a 
Justice  of  the  Peace,  under  this  Act,  shall  be  executed,  it  shall  be 
approved  by  a  Judge  of  the  Superior  Court  of  the  county  in  which  the 
Police  Court  or  Justice  of  the  Peace  has  jurisdiction,  and  his  approval 
indorsed  on  the  warrant  of  commitment.  But  if  such  sentence  shall  be 
disapproved,  the  Police  Court  or  Justice  of  the  Peace  shall  then  impose 
the  ordinary  sentence  prescribed  by  law. 

Sec  17.  It  shall  be  lawful  for  the  Board,  whenever  it  may  deem  any 
inmate  of  said  institution  to  have  been  so  far  reformed  as  to  justify  his 
discharge,  to  give  him  an  honorable  dismissal,  and  to  cause  an  entry  of 
the  reasons  for  such  dismissal  to  be  made  in  the  book  of  records  pre- 
pared for  that  purpose.  All  persons  thus  honorably  dismissed,  and  all 
those  who  shall  have  served  the  full  term  of  their  respective  sentences, 
shall  thereafter  be  released  from  all  penalties  and  disabilities  resulting 
from  the  ofienses  or  crimes  for  which  they  were  committed.  Upon  the 
final  discharge  of  any  inmate  as  in  this  section  provided,  the  Superin- 
tendent shall  immediately  certify  such  discharge  in  writing,  and  shall 
transmit  the  certificate  to  the  magistrate  or  Court  by  which  such  inmate 
or  boy  was  committed.  Said  magistrate  or  Court  shall  thereupon  dis- 
miss the  accusation  and  the  action  pending  against  said  person. 

Sec  18.  The  Board  shall  have  authority  also  to  issue  certificates  of 
conditional  dismissal  and  parole  to  any  worthy  boy  confined  in  the  insti- 
tution, on  the  following  conditions:  It  may  bind  such  boy,  by  articles  of 
indenture,  to  any  suitable  person  who  will  engage  to  educate  him  and  to 
instruct  him  in  some  useful  art  or  trade,  or  it  may  return  him  to  his 
parents,  or  it  may  place  him  under  the  care  of  any  reputable  person  who 
is  a  citizen  and  a  resident  of  this  State,  after  such  person,  parent,  guard- 


—    6    — 

ian,  or  resident  citizen  shall  have  become  bound  to  the  said  Board,  with 
good  and  sufficient  sureties,  conditioned  on  the  proper  custody,  care, 
education,  and  moral  and  industrial  training  of  the  said  paroled  boy. 
The  time  of  such  conditional  release  shall  be  made  subject  to  good 
behavior  and  continued  reformation  on  the  part  of  the  person  thus 
paroled.  Any  boy  who  violates  his  parole,  or  who  becomes  habitually 
disobedient  and  incorrigible,  may  be  returned  to  the  said  school  to  serve 
the  unexpired  term  of  his  sentence,  on  complaint  of  his  guardian  and 
the  written  requisition  of  the  Superintendent  of  the  said  school,  and  if 
received  from  either  of  the  State  Piisons  may  be  returned  to  the  same. 
Every  paroled  boy  who  properly  observes  and  obeys  the  conditions  of  his 
parole  until  the  date  of  the  expiration  of  his  time  of  commitment,  shall 
be  entitled  to  all  the  benefits  and  immunities  in  this  Act  provided. 

Sec.  19.  Any  boy  who  shall,  during  the  time  of  his  commitment,  be 
found  incorrigible,  or  who  shall  be  an  improper  subject  for  detention  in 
said  school,  may  be  returned  to  the  magistrate  or  Court  by  which  said 
boy  was  committed ;  and  upon  written  complaint  of  the  Board,  attested 
by  the  Superintendent  and  filed  with  the  original  complaint,  it  shall  be 
lawful  for  said  Court  or  magistrate  to  enter  judgment  and  pass  such 
sentence  as  would  have  been  lawful  at  the  time  when  the  offender  was 
first  committed  to  the  said  school,  and  if  committed  from  either  of  the 
State  Prisons  may  be  returned  to  the  prison  whence  received,  to  serve 
out  his  unexpired  term. 

Sec.  20.  Any  boy  under  the  age  of  eighteen  years,  who  is  undergoing 
sentence  in  any  State  Prison  in  this  State  (except  such  as  are  undergoing 
a  life  sentence),  and  who  shall  be  deemed  a  fit  subject  for  training  in  the 
said  school,  may,  upon  recommendation  of  the  State  Board  of  Prison 
Directors,  with  the  approval  of  the  Governor,  be  transferred  to  said 
school  for  the  unexpired  period  of  his  sentence,  and  when  honorably 
discharged  from  said  school,  as  hereinbefore  provided,  shall  be  entitled 
to  such  benefits  and  immunities  as  are  provided  for  the  other  inmates  of 
the  institution. 

Please  notice  the  following  points: 

1.  Only  boys  committed  by  a  court  of  competent  jurisdiction 
are  received;  there  is  ?io  other  way. 

2.  Commitments  made  by  Police  Courts  and  Justices'  Courts 
must  be  approved  by  the  Superior  Judge  of  the  county,  and  his 
approval  must  be  indorsed  upon  the  warrant  of  commitment. 

3.  Only  boys  between  eight  and  eighteen  years  of  age  can 
be  committed. 

4.  No  boy  of  unsound  mind,  or  one  who  is  subject  to  epileptic 
fits,  or  who  has  a  contagious  disease,  will  be  admitted. 

Blank  forms  of  commitment  will  be  furnished  on  application 
to  the  Superintendent. 

We  would  urgently  request  that  every  boy  be  committed 


—   7   — 

"until  h^  shall  arrive  at  the  age  of  twenty-one Jyears,"  etc. 
Not  that  we  may  keep  them  in  the  institution[until  they  have 
arrived  at  that  age  (for  we  seldom  do  that),  but  that  we  may 
send  them  out  before  that  time  and  still  retain  af  restraining 
hand  on  them. 

This  control  and  authority  over  the  boy  after  his  leaving  the 
school  is  one  of  the  most  important  factors  in  the]^work,  and 
without  it  many  boys  might  return  to  their  evil  ways  before 
they  were  fairly  started  in  habits  of  well  doing.  \With  this 
control  over  him  the  boy  feels  that  he  is  yet  responsible  to  the 
institution,  and  he  therefore  has  a  great  incentive  to  so  conduct 
himself  that  he  will  not  be  returned.  After  he  has  gotten  well 
into  habits  of  industry  and  right  living  under  all  the  influences 
of  his  every-day  life,  he  is  very  certain  to  make  a  success  of  life. 

We  would  cordially  invite  all  persons  interested  in  the  work 
to  visit  the  school,  for  we  believe  that  a  more  intimate  acquaint- 
ance with  the  institution  will  result  in  benefit  to  us  all. 
Very  sincerely, 

K.  CARI.  BANK, 

Superintendent. 


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